SAF Takes Gun Liability Fight to SCOTUS
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The PLCAA was supposed to be the answer to this exact problem. Congress passed it in 2005 specifically because plaintiffs were using litigation costs — not verdicts — as the weapon. Force enough depositions, discovery, and legal fees on manufacturers and distributors, and you don't need to win in court. You just need to keep them there long enough.
"Congress passed the PLCAA to stop coordinated litigation campaigns designed to bankrupt the firearms industry through meritless lawsuits."
New York's move here is pretty transparent — relabel the same strategy as a "public nuisance" and argue it's outside federal preemption. The Second Circuit bought it. If SCOTUS doesn't take this up, that framing becomes a template that doesn't stay in New York.
The part that should get your attention is buried at the bottom: California, Illinois, and Massachusetts are watching. A cert denial leaves that blueprint sitting on the desk of every state AG who wants to make gun manufacturers radioactive to investors without ever having to pass a law that voters can push back on. That's the actual threat — not one state's statute, but a litigation strategy that scales.
Whether SCOTUS grants cert is the only thing that matters right now. The Court turns down the vast majority of petitions, and a pass here means the Second Circuit ruling stands as settled law in that circuit.
Has anyone here dealt directly with a distributor or local gun shop owner who's talked about what this kind of legal environment actually does to their business decisions — stocking certain products, dropping certain manufacturers, that kind of thing?
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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